Jake Jones Racing rides a string of top finishes into the Holiday Weekend; Susquehanna Speedway’s Topless 40 up next.

Jake Jones Racing closed out the month of June by racking up 3 top 3 finishes in just 4 starts. The month’s racing for Jake Jones and his team kicked off back on June 4th in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania at the fabulous Lincoln Speedway. Lincoln, typically in the past has been good, but also bad to Jake and the 43 team. They were hesitant to see what the night would bring. With 17 top 358 late models on hand, Jake would finish 3rd in his competitive heat race which would start him 6th on the grid for the 20 lap feature. The bad struck early when on lap 4, Jake hit the brakes and the pedal went to the floor. Not to be deterred, Jones rallied and got up on the wheel having to change his preferred entry in to the corner due to the loss of stopping power. Without brakes, Jones drove towards the front and when the checkered fell, Jake had driven the Miller’s Racing Parts/KRS Graphics mount to a fine 2nd place finish.

The following week would see the team prepare for a big double header weekend with races at Susquehanna and Selinsgrove Speedway’s respectively. The team would unload the immaculately prepared Blazer’s Auto Body/Keystone Valley Ranch Lazer chassis at Susquehanna for the Carl Billet Memorial race on June 11th. 30 top late models signed in for the event honoring one of the area’s top 358 late model pilots. Time trials and heat races would set the stage for the 40 lap, $1,500 to win event. After qualifying well in time trials, Jake would win his heat going away, landing him a 5th starting spot in the night’s dash. Finishing 3rd in the dash would start the Miller’s Racing Parts/Berkebile Oil Co. hot rod in 3rd place for the 40 lap affair. With a tricky surface, Jake would finish where he started and bring home a great podium finish. The crew went right to work on the car’s maintenance and when the sun came up on the 12th the team was locked and loaded for Selinsgrove Speedway. With only 16 cars on hand for the special Sunday show, Jake would start 3rd and finish 2nd in his heat race. Racing last on the night, there was not much track surface left when Jones rolled off 2nd for the 20 lap feature. With the track locked down, Jake and pole sitter Jim Yoder would pull away from the rest of the field and finish just as they started. Jake and the team were happy with their runner up finish given the circumstances.

After a weekend off, the team returned to action at Susquehanna Speedway on June 25th for their regular weekly program. The D&D Septic/AllStar Performance/Snap21.com was ready to go, unfortunately, lady luck was not with them this week. After starting 13th in the field, Jake’s run to the front ended with an electrical issue on a restart and retired the no. 43 early in the race. The team was awarded the 22nd place finish.

“Take out this past Saturday, we had a great month” said Jones with a laugh, when reached Wednesday night at his Miller’s Racing Parts shop. “That’s part of racing; we just missed it this week then had a coil go bad on the restart. Up until then we were really happy with this Lazer Chassis. It took us a little while to get the new car figured out to my liking but when the track slicks off it seems I can go to the front anywhere we have unloaded. I really need to thank my guys, as we head into July the weather gets hot and sticky and they are always ready to go. With my business (Miller’s racing Parts) I am not always around during the week and Brian and the team really pick up the slack and make sure we are ready to head to the speedway” added Jake.

This coming Saturday (July 2nd), the team will participate in their biggest race of the year. The Annual Topless 40 takes place over the holiday weekend. Susquehanna Speedway will host this event for the first time. All previous Topless races were held at Williams Grove Speedway and the race has turned into one of the most prestigious races for 358 late models in Pennsylvania. A great field of cars is expected to be on hand for the 40 lap race that will award the winner a cool $2,000. The race will also pay $300 just to start. Jake’s company, Miller’s Racing Parts will offer a $300 bonus for the driver who makes the quickest lap in time trials for the big event. Time trials, heats and B-mains will set the grid for the big race which will also see a lot of lap money awarded to the competitors.

“This is the race I always look forward to” stated Jake. “It has always been a fun event and I think having it on the smaller track will make it that much better. It’s neat for the fans to see these cars with the roofs removed, they get to have a better perspective of all us drivers during the race. There is a lot of money on the line this week and there is nothing more I want to do than bring it home with me. There will be a lot of cars from other tracks, so we will see how it shakes out” added Jones.

Keep up to date with all of the Jake Jones Racing team news on his official web site at http://www.jakejonesracing.com. You can also follow JJR on Facebook at Jake Jones Racing and on Twitter @43JJR